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17th May 2018

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England Handball supporting Clean Sport Week

England Handball is throwing its full support behind UK Anti-Doping’s second Clean Sport Week, which launches on Monday 21 May.

This year’s campaign, which will again have the support of a range of National Governing Bodies (NGBs), sports organisations and UK sports stars, will celebrate clean athletes and their success, and promote the work of the anti-doping community in the fight for clean sport.

The campaign will also have a strong focus on supplement use and image enhancing culture in the UK, with new research set to be revealed during the week to encourage a wider public debate on the issue.

England Handball CEO David Meli said: “England Handball believe in clean handball and work in partnership with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and our International Federation to ensure that the integrity of our sport is protected. The use of performance-enhancing drugs and other doping behaviour severely damages the legitimacy of sport and undermines the integrity of clean athletes.

“England Handball has in place a set of anti-doping rules that all athletes, coaches and athlete support personnel must abide by. The anti-doping rules for England Handball are consistent with the World Anti-Doping Code (2015 Code), which governs anti-doping internationally.”

A number of events will take place between 21-27 May to help raise awareness of clean sport and anti-doping programmes led by UKAD, NGBs and sporting bodies across the UK. The campaign will also feature social media videos from a number of UK athletes showing their support for clean sport, through a series called ‘Feat of Strength’.

Nicole Sapstead, UKAD’s Chief Executive, said: “Our education programme is a vital part of our prevention work at UKAD. We are committed to delivering a high-quality programme in collaboration with our partners.

“Clean Sport Week provides the perfect platform for sports in the UK to come together and showcase the fantastic work going on from grassroots to elite level.

“At the same time, we believe there is also a vital public debate that needs to take place around the growing supplement culture in the UK and this year’s campaign will aim to do this. This has the potential to be a serious public health issue impacting on wider society and we want this debate to look at where people are obtaining their products, how aware they are of what is in them and the potential long-term effects of using them.”

UKAD and its partners are supporting athletes from grassroots to elite level through one of the world’s most extensive education and intelligence-led testing programmes. It has 30 National Trainers who deliver clean sport education, over 200 Doping Control Personnel, who work as part of the sample collection process and more than 2,300 Accredited Advisors around the UK.

The organisation provides and supports a range of educational, anti-doping and clean sport resources to help athletes at all levels including its ‘100% Me’ programme.